News Conference to Review Barbados’ Economic Performance for the First Six Months of 2012

by AirBourne / July 10th, 2012

All of Government’s deficit financing was sourced from the domestic market. The deficit was financed to the extent of 75 percent by commercial banks, 48 percent by the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and 54 percent by private non-bank entities.

There were no foreign public inflows during the review period and payments on external loans reduced government indebtedness by $33 million.

{FILE IMAGE} Looking ahead, the focus of fiscal policy for 2012 is to maintain a stable balance between the demand for and the supply of foreign exchange, so that foreign reserves remain adequate and the exchange rate remains secure. This is supported by the 2012 Financial Statement and Budgetary Proposals, which were designed to boost foreign earnings without increasing the fiscal deficit. NB – (Highlighted links in the Article is PDF of the Report from Central Bank)

Gross government debt as a percentage of GDP was 77 percent, down from 79 percent at the end of 2011, while net government debt was 57 percent of GDP. External debt service accounted for less than 7 percent of current account earnings.